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By Krista

Interview with Kree Harrison of "American Idol" on FOX 5/17/13

Final Transcript
FBC PUBLICITY: American Idol Interview Call
May 17, 2013/9:30 a.m. PDT

SPEAKERS

Molly O’Gara, BWR Public Relations
Kree Harrison

PRESENTATION

Moderator: Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by and welcome to the American Idol interview call with Kree Harrison. (Operator instructions.) As a reminder this conference is being recorded.

I’ll now turn the conference over to Molly O’Gara for opening remarks. Please go ahead.

M. O’Gara: Hello, everyone. Thank you so much for joining us today for the American Idol call with runner-up Kree Harrison. As a reminder, she’s here to talk about her experience on the show and her plans moving forward. As always, if we feel if anyone is harping on a particular subject, we do reserve the right to jump in and move the call along.

With that being said, let’s go ahead and get started with the first question.

Moderator: Thank you. (Instructions given.) We’ll go to Jamie Ruby with SciFiVision.com. Please go ahead.

J. Ruby: Hello. Thanks so much for doing the call today. What are you most looking forward to on tour?

K. Harrison: Honestly being able to go out there and perform for all the fans and try to hug as many of them as I can. I’m so appreciative of my fans.

J. Ruby: Great, thank you so much.

Moderator: Okay. Thank you. We’ll go to Mark Stone with Vista Radio. Please go ahead.

M. Stone: Good morning, Kree. Congratulations and everything.

K. Harrison: Thanks.

M. Stone: Thanks. There are always pros and cons to everything. For you and your mindset going forward, what are the pros of actually coming in second?

K. Harrison: It’s been the most amazing journey and honestly I’m so honored that the fans have gotten me this far and now that I have a following I can make a record.

M. Stone: Just a quick follow-up, are you going to be doing more of traditional country or pop country?

K. Harrison: I don’t want to put myself in a box right now. I’ve only put out a single just today, so for me I would love to do country radio and whatever that brings to people, whether it’s pop or traditional. I feel like personally I’m more of a traditional artist; but I don’t want to be just be one particular thing. It’s definitely country and always will be.

M. Stone: Sure. Thanks so much. I appreciate it.

Moderator: Our next question from the line of Brian Cantor with Headline Planet. Please go ahead.

B. Cantor: So, Kree, obviously you received phenomenal support from a lot of celebrity music acts, but I wanted to specifically talk about the support that Kacey Musgraves had given you. The media loves her. She’s one of the hottest things in country right now and she just went nuts really supporting your run on the show. I’m curious what it’s like getting support from someone like that, who started on a reality show and has now really made it and is kind of a big deal, what your reaction to that.

K. Harrison: First of all, she’s one of my best friends. We hit if off in Nashville and kept in touch. It’s weird, we’re sisters and I’m so proud of her and she’s so proud of me, and I can’t believe it’s all happening to both of us right now. Yes, I can’t wait to get back to Nashville and hug her. I mean, obviously, she’s come to the show and supported me, I love her to death. I’m so proud of her!

Moderator: At this time we’ll go to Mike Hughes with TV America. Please go ahead.

M. Hughes: Kree, I wanted to ask you to try to think back for a minute to back when you were much younger and you had a shot at a record deal, and as I understand you finally didn’t do it because you didn’t agree with the company on the direction they were going in. Tell us how much different you’ll be now when you do your record. It’s obvious you’ll be older and things like that, but in what other ways will your taste or style be different in the record than it might have been if you had done it way back then?

K. Harrison: To tell you the truth, I didn’t know then exactly what I wanted to do, because I was ten years old, but I knew exactly what I didn’t want to do, which was more of the bubble gum pop country that was still happening at the time. It wasn’t the right time. It wasn’t necessarily that I was butting heads with the label. They were amazing to me and more than anything taught me to stay true to who I was, but, yes, there was a lot of things that had happened. I had had tragedy in my family and I think that it was good to sit back and do some soul searching, and not just emotionally, but as an artist. I feel like through this whole Idol journey, it just taught me so much more that everything I’ve been through and all the experiences that I’ve had in the industry just makes you exactly who you are; and that comes out in your music, so pretty much all of the above.

M. Hughes: Thank you. And just to follow-up then a second like you say, you have had a lot of tragedy and yet all the people on the show describe you as just a very upbeat and friendly person, someone you pick up the other people’s spirits and so forth. What is it about your persona that allows you to continue to be upbeat throughout it all?

K. Harrison: I think that end of the day, it’s a choice. You can choose to live your life happy and whatever happens to you, you take it with a grain of salt. For me this is the sweet after the bitter that I’ve had in my life. I like to share that and make people feel the same way.

M. Hughes: Okay, cool. Thanks a lot.

K. Harrison: Thank you.

Moderator: Thank you. Our next question is from the line of Marnie Brodersen with Wetpaint. Please go ahead.

M. Brodersen: Hello, Kree.

K. Harrison: Hey, I see your posts all the time.

M. Brodersen: Oh, you do? Oh my gosh. Thank you. Thank you so much for taking the time because I’m sure you’re just exhausted; but I wanted to ask you about Keith Urban. I know he’s such a huge fan of yours, but I really felt like he was kind of hard on you at certain times, too. I was just wondering if you had any thoughts on maybe why or when he would talk about you not being connected with the songs, what you thought about that.

K. Harrison: I mean I feel like for the four judges, I respect so much and always have, and especially Keith, because we’re both country singers and if any point he would give me some critiques, I took it as constructive criticism, because at the end of the day you can’t really grow if you’re not listening and learning from your peers. Yes, I always took it to heart and I agree with him. I’ve always had a problem in the beginning of my career letting the wall down and being able to connect emotionally just because it is a harder thing to do to open up; but I feel like through this process it’s really happened and I feel so good about it. I’m happy that it’s happened that way.

M. Brodersen: Great, great. Thank you so much. Then I wanted to ask you a quick follow-up about Kellie Pickler. Have you heard from her since last night?

K. Harrison: I talk to her all the time, but I haven’t heard from her. I’m sure she understands that it’s a whirlwind, but I will definitely talk to her. I’m so fricking proud of her. I hope she wins Dancing with the Stars. I’m rooting for her. I know the Idol family is, too. Me and Angie and Janelle have voted for her on Dancing with the Stars. We’re so proud of each other and I’ve gotten to see her a bunch at the studios. She’s such an amazing woman and friend. I hope to collaborate soon.

M. Brodersen: Okay, great. Thank you so much.

K. Harrison: Thank you so much.

Moderator: We’ll go next to Nahal Mottaghian with USA Today. Please go ahead.

N. Mottaghian: Hello, Kree, how are you?

K. Harrison: I’m good. How are you doing?

N. Mottaghian: I’m good. What are you most looking forward to when you first get home?

K. Harrison: I’m not going to be mad about lying in my bed. I’m definitely going to get as much rest as I possibly can because we’ve been working our butts off. More than anything, I just kind of taking it all in, everything that’s happened and I can’t wait to go back to Nashville and make music.

N. Mottaghian: How soon should we be expecting an album from you?

K. Harrison: My single is released, which I can’t even believe that I can say that out loud. It’s on iTunes, and I hope that you are all going to go purchase it. I don’t know. The tour is next and I feel like the world is in my hands right now to make a good record and I’m so happy about it. As soon as I can, I’m just going to start writing and collaborating with other singer songwriters and we’ll see what happens, but I definitely will let you all know, because I can’t wait to share it. I can’t wait to make a record.

N. Mottaghian: Awesome. Good luck to you.

K. Harrison: Thank you.

Moderator: We’re going to go to Cindy Watts with The Tennessean. Please go ahead.

C. Watts: Hello, Kree.

K. Harrison: Hey, how are you?

C. Watts: I’m good. How are you?

K. Harrison: I’m good.

C. Watts: Good. I was hoping you could talk about your new single and why this is the right choice for you right now.

K. Harrison: I’m so happy that this song was pitched to me. Steve McEwan, Katrina Elam and Gordie Sampson wrote the song. I feel like it’s 100% me and I couldn’t be more thankful to call it my own. It’s definitely got the traditional country roots and the soul that I wanted. I feel like lyrically I couldn’t have wrote the song better myself. I hope that people love it. I really do and I look forward to the rest of the record as well.

C. Watts: It looks like I got a press release this morning that you’re going to play it on the Grand Ole Opry. Is that right?

K. Harrison: Today is my birthday and that’s the best birthday present I’ve ever gotten in my life.

C. Watts: Oh my goodness, Happy Birthday. I didn’t realize that.

K. Harrison: Thank you.

C. Watts: You’re excited, I take it.

K. Harrison: Yes. I’m positive that there’s footage of me when I was younger. This has been one of my lifelong goals is to play the Grand Ole Opry and just stand where all of my peers and all those country music legends have stood. It’s going to be hard not to kiss that circle. Yes, I’m excited, of course. Keith Urban told me and I cried. Yes, it was a very special, it was a good moment. I’m happy that we shared it.

C. Watts: When did you find that out?

K. Harrison: I found out the night of the show.

C. Watts: Like last night?

K. Harrison: Yes.

C. Watts: Very cool. Fantastic. Well, congratulations, Kree, and we look forward to you getting back to town.

K. Harrison: I’m sorry?

C. Watts: We will look forward to you getting back to town. Congratulations.

K. Harrison: I can’t wait. I hope you all come out to the Opry.

C. Watts: We will. We will.

K. Harrison: Okay, good. Nice to talk to you.

C. Watts: You, too.

Moderator: Thank you. We’ll go to Virginia Baldwin with US Weekly. Please go ahead.

V. Baldwin: Hello, Kree. Happy Birthday.

K. Harrison: Hello, girl, thank you so much. It’s not too shabby.

V. Baldwin: I just have one quick question for you. In terms of looking back on your whole Idol experience, is there one judge that was your favorite or that you respect the most? What’s your opinion on that?

K. Harrison: They have brought so many different things and opinions and advice to me, I can’t imagine just picking one because I respect all of them for so many different reasons. Last night being able to play with Randy and Keith, obviously Travis, but those two judges that they’ve all rooted for me and I was so thankful for it. Yes, I couldn’t possibly pick one. I do love Keith and I hope that we get to collaborate more in the future.

V. Baldwin: Okay, very cool. Thank you so much.

K. Harrison: Thank you so much.

Moderator: We have a question from the line of Sharyn Jackson with Xfinity TV. Please go ahead.

S. Jackson: Hello, Kree. Happy Birthday. I was wondering after the finale performances, did you think that you would win and how much did you want to win?

K. Harrison: I think that we were all we were in it to win it, as Randy would say, but at the end of the day the title for me is not just the American Idol, because I feel like I’ve already reached a limit of creating a following and that’s is what each of us came here to do. Standing there last night with Candy, I was so fricking proud of her and she’s so proud of me, we’re living our dreams right now, whether or not I have that title. I feel like I have one. I’m runner-up and I’m so blessed that I could be a part of this journey, and I feel like it’s made me even more of an artist, so I’m happy, and so I’m over the moon about it.

S. Jackson: Just as a follow-up, when you were standing there with Candice waiting for Ryan to give you the final announcement of who won, what was going through your head?

K. Harrison: What was going through my head is what I was saying out loud. We were both telling each other how proud we were and I said if you make it, if you win, you better sing your butt off. She was laughing at me. Have you heard her? I was so fricking proud of her. She’s incredible and we’re both rooting for each other. Go get both of our singles.

S. Jackson: Thanks.

K. Harrison: Thank you.

Moderator: Our next question from the line of Beth Kwiatkowski with Reality TV World. Please go ahead.

B. Kwiatkowski: Hello, Kree. Congratulations on being the runner-up and Happy Birthday.

K. Harrison: Thank you.

B. Kwiatkowski: I just want to get a little more specific about the question that you were just asked. Going into the results, did you feel like you had an equal shot to win against Candice, or based upon your set of performances Wednesday night and judges’ comments, did you think or have a gut feeling the title was going to go to Candice?

K. Harrison: I never know what’s going to happen. It’s always been in America’s hands, but the truth is the whole top ten, we’re all so completely different and especially me and Candice. It’s apples and oranges as far as music goes and two totally different artists, so I had no idea what was going to happen, but either way the result I feel like it was win/win situation for both of us.

B. Kwiatkowski: Okay, great. You seemed shocked when Ryan Seacrest announced that you got voted into the finale and Angie was going home.

K. Harrison: I was.

B. Kwiatkowski: Yes, I was going to ask you was it actually the case, and what was going through your mind in that moment?

K. Harrison: Yes, if you can’t tell, I’m not a very good actress, so what you see is what you get. I definitely was shocked and not because I don’t feel like—I feel like all of us deserve it, but I think it was just a moment of reality. I try to live in the moment each step of this whole process. Whenever he called me name, I could not believe that I was going to be able to perform another week. I was just so happy and the support, you feel at that very moment like, wow, all of you people voted for me to sing another week, and that was just such an amazing feeling, so yes, I was shocked.

B. Kwiatkowski: Okay. Thank you, Kree.

K. Harrison: Thank you.

Moderator: We have a question from the Jennifer Maurer with PopStar.com. Please go ahead.

J. Maurer: Hello, Kree. Happy birthday and congratulations.

K. Harrison: Thank you. I love all this birthday love.

J. Maurer: Yes, you’ll get a lot more, I have a feeling. I want to thank you for taking time with us today as well.

K. Harrison: Thank you for having me.

J. Maurer: Sure. I’ve love to get from you what your feeling was after the show last night. First of all, what was it like to be reunited with the top ten and what did you all do to celebrate?

K. Harrison: They all sang me Happy Birthday, was really awesome, but we had a fricking show of our lives, are you kidding? It was so much fun and I tweeted earlier, the best part about it was celebrating the finale with the Idol family; not just the contestants, but the whole crew. You become so close to these people that you work with every single day. We spend every waking moment with each other, so it was very special. It was an amazing night.

J. Maurer: Great. Now as a follow-up question, looking forward to creating your album and things and going back to Nashville, what are some of the things you look forward to most? It is being in the studio? Is it touring? Do you have a preference one over the other? What are you most excited about?

K. Harrison: The whole process is exciting in itself because it is such a process. You rewrite, you listen to songs. You go in the studio and you create what is yours. It’s like birth. It’s like I’m creating your baby and to go out and share it with the world, all of the above. It’s what we live for, so I can’t wait for all of it to tell you the truth.

J. Maurer: Great, all the best. Thank you very much.

K. Harrison: Thank you, thank you.

Moderator: We go to MJ Santilli: with MJ’s Big Blog. Please go ahead.

MJ Santilli: Hello, Kree. You and Candice are just one of the best top twos ever. I’m such a fan.

K. Harrison: Thank you.

MJ Santilli: I was wondering about when you chose to go first after the coin toss, if you could talk a little bit about when you chose that?

K. Harrison: You know what, at that moment I was just like I don’t care if I go first or second. It’s just two of us. I get to sing at the finale and I’m fricking excited about it. I don’t know. They said what do you want and I asked her first and she said I want to go second, so I said fine. I don’t care. I was just so happy to be able to perform again.

MJ Santilli: I also was wondering if you could tell us a little bit about the tour. On Twitter you mentioned that you were hoping to sing Up To The Mountain.

K. Harrison: Yes.

MJ Santilli: Can you maybe give us a clue as to what you might, of course, you’ll be singing your single, but anything else you can tell us about your set?

K. Harrison: You know what? Honestly I don’t know, but I would hope that people would give me suggestions for what they want to hear, because I think that I could pretty much pick anything, not just the songs that I performed on the show, but I would love to sing Up To The Mountain. I’ve always been a huge fan of Patty Griffin; she wrote that song and she’s an amazing singer. There’s a connection with that song, because I’ve always loved it. My mom loves that song, so I would love to bring that energy every night.

MJ Santilli: Your cover of that is just gorgeous.

K. Harrison: Thank you.

MJ Santilli: Thanks, Kree.

K. Harrison: Thank you.

Moderator: Our next question from the line of David Bethke with Fanlala.com. Please go ahead.

D. Bethke: Kree, Happy Birthday.

K. Harrison: Thank you.

D. Bethke: This has to be an amazing birthday present for you.

K. Harrison: There are so many things to celebrate, I’m just trying to pick one.

D. Bethke: The first question I have, Ryan Seacrest, yesterday, he said that auditions for Season 13 are already underway. Do you have any advice for upcoming Idols are going to be on the show next season?

K. Harrison: Sure I do. Pace yourself, first of all, but more than anything I feel like the beauty of coming into such an amazing situation and competition is that you have to know who you are as an artist, because I feel like that’s what will make you stand out.

D. Bethke: Then a follow-up question that I had, after all was said and done last night, what did you do? Did you go out and celebrate? You just go to where you’re staying and relax? What did you do?

K. Harrison: I did a little bit of both. The adrenalin that me and Candy were feeling last night was over the moon, so it was hard to just like go and sit down. We were physically exhausted, so we went out to the after party, the wrap party, and got to hug everybody that we’ve made family with basically. They all sang happy birthday and obviously we celebrated just the top ten and each other and the fact that we’re getting to go on tour. Yes, it was a really fun night and then I went to sleep because I was exhausted.

D. Bethke: Awesome, awesome. Thank you very much and congratulations on everything. Good luck with everything in the future.

K. Harrison: Thank you so much.

Moderator: Our next question will be from the line of Susan Yeager with Enterteenment News. Please go ahead.

S. Yeager: Hello, Kree. Happy Birthday.

K. Harrison: How are you doing?

S. Yeager: I’m good, thanks. I just wanted to know this was such a professional group this year. What did you learn from the other contestants?

K. Harrison: Oh my God, so many things. I’m inspired every day by how much that we’ve all grown, to be honest. We all bring something so totally different to the table, and the fact that we get to go on tour together and get to do that every single night is such an amazing thing, but they’ve taught me so many things. I’ve learned a ton.

S. Yeager: Who are you most looking forward to hearing on the tour other than your set?

K. Harrison: Everyone. We’re all so different I couldn’t possibly choose one, but I am excited to collaborate for sure. Hopefully me and Candy get to do another duet and obviously Angie and just all the girls really. Angie is like my little sister at this point. We’ve roomed together since Vegas and I’m so fricking proud of all of them. Janelle, Amber… Janelle’s performance last night I couldn’t believe. Like she’s a star and she killed it. She really did. I was so proud of everyone.

S. Yeager: Thanks so much. We look forward to what comes next.

K. Harrison: Thank you.

S. Yeager: Thank you.

Moderator: Our next question from the line of Jamie Ruby with SciFiVision.com. Please go ahead.

J. Ruby: Hello again. So throughout the whole season what surprised you most that you found out that you weren’t expecting?

K. Harrison: Just how much work goes into the show. Not just for us, but for everybody, there’s so much hard working people behind the scenes; and I had no idea that that really happened that way. I’m happy to be a part of that experience and to make such good friends throughout this process.

J. Ruby: Great. What will you miss most?

K. Harrison: The Idol family, really. I know I say that as I’ve said a thousand times, but really the cast and crew I adore. I really do, and then we’ve spent every day together for a while and I’m really going to miss them. I’m going to try and stay in touch with as many of them as I can.

J. Ruby: Great, thanks.

K. Harrison: Thank you.

Moderator: We’ll go to Carmen Rasmusen-Herbert with Deseret News. Please go ahead.

C. Rasmusen-Herbert: Hello, Kree.

K. Harrison: Hello, how are you doing?

C. Rasmusen-Herbert: Good. I was a former contestant. I was on Season 2 of American Idol.

K. Harrison: Oh, amazing.

C. Rasmusen-Herbert: I know, so as a contestant, I kind of feel like my life was pre-Idol and then post-Idol. It was such a defining moment in my life. So my question for you is how do you feel like this has changed you, not only as a person, but as an entertainer? What lessons have you learned about yourself being on the show?

K. Harrison: I’ve learned to just keep being myself and staying true to who am I as an artist. I feel like more than anything that’s what people love and it’s relatable to just be who you are, especially as a performer. I’ve really put down that wall as much as possible.

C. Rasmusen-Herbert: Awesome. Then just a fun one, we had rituals we would do before the show. We’d eat like lemon honey water and we’d all sing silly songs and say prayers. What kind of fun stuff did you guys do to get pumped up and energized and ready for the show?

K. Harrison: Pretty much that. Right before like literally we would all walk out, especially us girls, and we would just dance around and be silly and kind of take in the moment. You know how it is; it’s fast-paced. Yes, it was really cool to share that experience with such an amazing crew, cast.

C. Rasmusen-Herbert: Absolutely awesome. Thank you so much and Happy Birthday.

K. Harrison: Thank you. It’s nice to meet you.

C. Rasmusen-Herbert: Yes, nice to meet you over the phone.

Moderator: We’ll go to Krista Chain with TV MegaSite. Please go ahead.

K. Chain: Hello, Kree.

K. Harrison: Hello. How are you doing?

K. Chain: I’m doing good. How are you?

K. Harrison: I’m good.

K. Chain: I apologize if this question has already been asked. I was a few minutes late into the call. Who is someone that you would like to work with in the future?

K. Harrison: Oh man, honestly there’s so many people for so many different reasons I couldn’t possibly name one. I know that June 4th I’m playing the Opry now and I can’t even really fathom that, and say it out loud it’s so crazy. But I know Keith Urban will be there, so maybe something will happen. I would love to collaborate with him; we’ll see.

K. Chain: Okay, great. What do you think about the panel for the judges next year? Who would you like to see for the judges?

K. Harrison: Oh man, I don’t know. Whoever will be great. I haven’t really thought about it. Your accent is amazing. Where are you from?

K. Chain: I’m from Alabama.

K. Harrison: I hear it. It’s nice.

K. Chain: Thank you. I appreciate that.

K. Harrison: You’re welcome. Nice to talk to you.

Moderator: Our last question is from the line of Mike Hughes with TV America. Please go ahead.

M. Hughes: Kree, one of the key things about when you let Candice sing last is Candice had such as big knock-out song for her last song. When you let her sing last, were you aware of that? Had you heard her sing it? Did you know how powerful her last song was going to be?

K. Harrison: Every song that Candice will ever sing is powerful. Of course I did. I’m so fricking proud of her and I thought it was the best idea ever to start that a cappella. It brought something different to that, her second rendition of that song. Yes, we’re so fricking proud of each other and go buy both of our singles.

M. Hughes: Okay. The other thing I was going to ask you is they used to pin bad songs on people for their first single and they used to force them. They said this is your song and you have to take it, but nowadays people have been getting good songs for their first song out. You said that the song was pitched to you, so describe did you get several choices of songs, or how did that go?

K. Harrison: There’s a team of people constantly working throughout this whole experience, throughout this whole process, and I honestly really do trust them. Yes, they’ve worked their butts off trying to find songs for all of the top ten. I’m lucky enough to be able to have found the perfect single. Yes, I definitely trusted them and whenever they did play it for me, I knew immediately that that was the one because lyrically I mean every word and I just believe that it’s such a good country song and I think people seem to really like it and hopefully buy the rest of the record.

Moderator: Thank you. I’ll turn it back to our speakers for any closing remarks.

M. O’Gara: So at this point we’re going to wrap the conference call for today. Thank you, everyone, for joining us. As a reminder, auditions cities and dates for American Idol Season 13 can be found on AmericanIdol.com. At this point I’m going to turn it back over to Kree for some final remarks. Kree?

K. Harrison: I just want to thank you all so much. Wherever you all are, you all should come out to the tour. I know it starts June 29th and, yes, I’d love to meet all of you.

M. O’Gara: Okay. If we could just provide dial-in information for the replay, we’ll be all set.

Moderator: Very good. Ladies and gentlemen, this conference call is being made available for replay, and the replay of the conference begins today at 11:00 a.m. and that is in the Pacific time zone. The replay runs until May 22nd at midnight Pacific.

That will conclude your teleconference for today. Thank you for your participation and for using AT&T Executive TeleConference Service. You may now disconnect.

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